Julia Glotfelty

12/05/19
Sellers- ⅗
How I Was Socialized
Socialization is “The process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society.”
My interpretation of the role of socialization is the people you grow up with teaching you how to
behave in a manner consistent with social norms. This is completely dependent on the
environment in which you are placed as a child and will change as you grow up.
In this unit, we read an article called “The Cycle of Socialization” by Bobbie Harro. The
article identified two different social groups; People fit into either the target group (someone that
is not that exemplar or someone that is somewhat lesser than the agent group) or in the agent
group (someone who is considered higher than everyone else that is in the target groups). Within
these there are seven different categories; female (Target) or male (Agent), if you are colored
(Target) or white (Agent), f you are a teen/child (Target) or i an adult (Agent), if you have a
disability (Target) or have no disability (Agent), if you are in the lower class (Target) or in the
middle or upper class (Agent), if you are straight (Agent) or LGBTQ+ (Target), and that last one
is if you are in the religion native to that area (Agent) or are not (Target).
I think that socialization is something that is all around us can be an influence from just
about anything and everything. It is something that your parents teach you, and it can also be in
other things like sports, media, religion, friends, and family. The two that I have the most interest
in and are affecting me currently are media and sports.
Social media and music have changed me in the way that I dress and the way that I act.
Social media has socialized me from how my gender is supposed to dress, it plays a big role in
my life because it tells me what I should wear and what I shouldn’t wear and I believe that this
has changed my style a little bit. For example, the outfits that I used to wear were never a trend
and when I got social media there were all of these cute trends. It plays a big role in most
everybody’s day to day life. For me to have so much information and knowledge at my fingertips
is very helpful with regards to media, although sometimes it feels like too much information.
Another aspect of socialization from the media is music. Music has socialized me in a
way unlike any other media because it resonates with me. My tastes in music have changed as I
have changed, hard telling which came first now that I think of it. An example of that is when I
was young there was a type of music that I did not veer away from, however, when I got older
my personality changed and so did my music - sometimes my personality or mood changes as a
result of music. It plays a role in my life and the people around me because there is a type of
music that can help you be happier and happier and there is a type that can just tear you apart and
make you disappointed in yourself and or others. But this differs in between
I have become the person that I am today because of the sports that I participate in and
those are Aerial Silks, Biking, and Hockey. Aerial silks has socialized me because I can express
myself in aerial silks more than any other sport or any other part of my life. Twisting and turning
on the silk to music and gravity and expressing myself as art has really helped me become more
confident. I have learned from aerial silks that I can express myself in different ways and be fine
with who I am. An example of this is that if I make a mistake and do the wrong thing the people
in the crowd don't know. This has happened to me at least once and I am fine with that (everyone
makes mistakes). The way that I can walk on the stage and no-one can judge me on my
appearance and they don’t know my past experiences or what I had to do to get to that point is
very refreshing.
Biking has socialized me by forcing me to adhere to the social norms of trail etiquette in
an effort to represent my team and myself well. An example of that is when I am in a race or on
the trails, some of the people that are on the trail don’t really like the High School Team and /or
Devo and if we do something wrong that is reported to the Devo office it comes back to our team
as bad press. That’s why when I pass someone on the trail I thank them.
The last sport that has socialized me is hockey. Hockey is a great sport to play because
you get to hang out with your teammates who become your friends that you might not have
known if you didn’t play on a team sport. My team, in particular, is very supportive of all levels
of hockey players - encouraging all girls to play their best - whatever that may mean. You get
really close to those girls by sharing the ice and experiences. You can connect with a team in a
different way which I think has helped me sort of find out who I am, and who I want to be when
I grow up - I would like to continue this supportive relationship and connectedness with my team
(be that my family “team” or my work “team) and help them with their disabilities and abilities.
Although I only addressed 2 of the 6 topics of socialization (family, sports, religion,
friends, media, and school) I have learned a lot from the others as well. If I were to put all that I
have learned in one word it would be “positivity”. If I were to choose one quote to describe my
socialization I would pick: “Be nice to everyone that your meet and one day you might get a
surprise that will change your life”.